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András Kovács

András Kovács is professor at the Nationalism Studies Program and the academic director of Jewish Studies at the Central European University in Budapest. He has led several large scale research projects on Jews and on antisemitism in post-Holocaust Hungary and collaborated as principal investigator in others

Between 1977 and 1990 due to illegal (samizdat) publications and activity as member of the democratic dissident movement in Hungary he was banned from professional activity in Hungary. After 1990 he taught at the Institute of Sociology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and worked as senior researcher at the Institute for Ethnic and Minority Research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2004-2012). In 2006 he became Doctor of Sciences at the Hungarian Academy of Science. In 2013 he received the Széchenyi Prize, a Hungarian state distinction acknowledging outstanding scholarly achievement, the most prestigious scholarly award in Hungary.
András Kovács
Antisemitic Prejudices in Europe: Survey in 16 European Countries. Volume 2 Country Reports
Antisemitic Prejudices in Europe: Survey in 16 European Countries. Volume 2 Country Reports
The research, initiated by the Action and Protection League and carried out by the polling companies Ipsos and Inspira, aims to provide a comprehensive picture of antisemitic prejudice in 16 countries in the European Union.

The study uses a total of 24 questions to measure antisemitism. The authors measured the cognitive and conative dimensions of prejudice with 10 questions, and three additional questions for the affective dimension of antisemitism, that is, to measure the emotional charge of antisemitic prejudice. The authors mapped secondary antisemitism relativizing the Holocaust with seven questions and antisemitic hostility against Israel with four questions. The authors used two and three questions, respectively, to measure sympathy for Jews and for Israel
Antisemitic Prejudices in Europe: Survey in 16 European Countries
Antisemitic Prejudices in Europe: Survey in 16 European Countries
The research, initiated by the Action and Protection League and carried out by the polling companies Ipsos and Inspira, aims to provide a comprehensive picture of antisemitic prejudice in 16 countries in the European Union.

The study uses a total of 24 questions to measure antisemitism. The authors measured the cognitive and conative dimensions of prejudice with 10 questions, and three additional questions for the affective dimension of antisemitism, that is, to measure the emotional charge of antisemitic prejudice. The authors mapped secondary antisemitism relativizing the Holocaust with seven questions and antisemitic hostility against Israel with four questions. The authors used two and three questions, respectively, to measure sympathy for Jews and for Israel
Jews and Jewry in contemporary Hungary: Results of a sociological survey
Jews and Jewry in contemporary Hungary: Results of a sociological survey
This report discusses the results of a sample survey of contemporary Hungarian Jewry, which examined a wide variety of demographic, social and cultural issues, including Jewish identity and practices, as well as respondents’ ideological, social and economic attitudes.

Understanding generational changes in the social position of Hungarian Jews was among the survey’s main research goals, as was determining the current social and economic position of Jews within Hungarian society. Monitoring the attitudes of contemporary Hungarian Jews concerning their own Jewish origins, as well as Jews and Judaism in
general, constituted another goal. Yet another objective was to ascertain the extent to which Hungary’s Jews involve themselves in organized Jewish community life. Finally, the survey aimed to look at how Hungarian Jewry views antisemitism and its own relations with the non-Jewish population as well as attitudes towards Israel and the impact of the Holocaust.
Jewish Groups and Identity Strategies in Post-Communist Hungary
Jewish Groups and Identity Strategies in Post-Communist Hungary
Under democracy in Hungary, Jews developed new identity strategies, but their choices of strategy were clearly dependent on earlier identities and the extent to which they had moved away from traditional Jewishness.

Today in Hungary, one end of the spectrum is filled by groups that continue to observe strictly Jewish religious traditions. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those for whom Jewish background is at most a fact of origin stored in the backroom of family memory and possessing no
public significance and little personal relevance. The majority of Jews living in the country are to be found somewhere between the two extremes.
Jewish life in Hungary: Achievements, challenges and priorities since the collapse of communism
Jewish life in Hungary: Achievements, challenges and priorities since the collapse of communism
Part of a four-paper series looking at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, this report takes a detailed look at Jewish life in Hungary, drawing on interviews with a broad range of Hungarian Jewish leaders.

The authors are sharply critical of community management structures and recommend urgent structural reform. They call for greater levels of co-operation between Jewish communal organizations and initiatives, and stress the need for a more religiously pluralist communal environment.

A Hungarian language version is also available.
Identity à la Carte: Research on Jewish identities, participation and affiliation in five Eastern European countries
Identity à la Carte: Research on Jewish identities, participation and affiliation in five Eastern European countries
Given the considerable investment in Eastern European Jewish communities following the collapse of communism, the involvment and identities of Jews in Eastern Europe is of considerable global interest.

This report by the Joint Distribution Committee, describes the results of a research study on Jewish identity and community participation in Central and Eastern Europe. This two-year and wide-reaching study examined views on religious observance, Jewish identity, antisemitism, Israel, Jewish knowledge, and organisational affiliation among 1,270 Jews, ages 18-60.
Hungarian Jewish Politics from the End of the Second World War until the Collapse of Communism
Hungarian Jewish Politics from the End of the Second World War until the Collapse of Communism
The study examines Jewish politics in Communist Hungary. Politicians of Jewish origin played an important role in the political life of post-war Hungary as leaders of the Communist party or as officials in the Communist governments. Their activity had a considerable effect, both directly and indirectly, on the life of Hungarian Jews.

This study is concerned only with those politicians in post-war Hungary who identified themselves publicly as Jews or openly represented Jewish causes. How did these politicians, who viewed Jews as a collectivity and sought to defend the Jews’ collective interests, act in the troublesome post-war decades?
Zsidók és zsidóság Magyarországon 2017: Egy szociológiai kutatás eredményei
Zsidók és zsidóság Magyarországon 2017: Egy szociológiai kutatás eredményei
[Jews and Jewry in Contemporary Hungary: Results of a Sociological Survey]

This 2018 publication reports on a questionnaire-based sociological survey of Hungarian Jewry. It updates the findings of a similar survey carried out in 1999/2000. Since the earlier study, a new Jewish generation emerged, and the Hungarian and international environment also changed substantially.

The consortium supporting the research included the Joint Distribution Committee, the Budapest Jewish Community (BZSH),the Unified Hungarian Jewish congregation (EMIH), the Alliance of Jewish Congregations in Hungary (mazsihisz), the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the Mozaik Jewish community hub, Szochnut, Szombat Foundation, and the Action and Protection Foundation (tev).
Philosemitism as a resolution of congnitive dissonance? The case of post-communist Hungary
Philosemitism as a resolution of congnitive dissonance? The case of post-communist Hungary
Philosemitism in modern Hungary has two typical manifestations. In the first version, an inclination to stereotype and to perceive “Jews” as a rival social group are placed within a framework by the (unprocessed) memory of the persecution of Jews, a left-wing/liberal worldview, and an acceptance of the philosemitic (or at least non-antisemitic) consensus of norms in the public realm. In such a context, the expression of attitudes relating to Jews is well served by the clichés which arose during the era of assimilation and are still fostered by both Jews and non-Jews concerning the beneficial role of Jews and their contribution to the country.

The other group of philosemites, however, is clearly characterised by "allotic" attitudes. This form of philosemitism is extremely fragile: the opinions and attitudes expressed by such philosemitism can be accommodated – sometimes without any modification or contradiction – in the context of political antisemitism.
Antisemitic Prejudice and Political Antisemitism in Present-Day Hungary
Antisemitic Prejudice and Political Antisemitism in Present-Day Hungary
The article from 2012 analyzes survey results on antisemitic prejudices, antisemitic political discourses, and political antisemitism in Hungary. Surveys conducted after 2006 show not only an increase in the absolute percentage of antisemites, but also an increase in the proportion of antisemites who embed their antisemitism in the political context. This phenomenon is linked with the appearance on the political scene of Jobbik, a more or less openly antisemitic party.

The strength of antisemitic feelings is regionally different and that these differences correlate with the strength of Jobbik’s support in the various regions. Thus, antisemitism is—at least in large part—a consequence of an attraction to the far right rather than an explanation for it. parliamentary system that replaced communism.

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